Author: Finnley Brennan

Love, Girls’ Tennis 

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By Ayza Ali ‘28

Throughout new beginnings and matches that just couldn’t seem to end, Wyoming Seminary’s Girls’ Tennis had a very successful season, with the team demonstrating valuable partnership, dedication, and a competitive spirit. The fall season ended amazingly for the team, when two of the doubles pairings impressively ended in second place. 

The team began their hardworking season long before the academic year began, ensuring that they were prepared for the intense matches ahead of them. With a new coach, Coach Fred Hockenbury, the girls had concerns that it would take time for the team to feel comfortable and connected with one another on the courts. However, Coach Hockenbury immediately helped the girls feel at ease, and he helped them become better tennis players each day. 

Not long after preseason, the girls already felt prepared for their matches, and proved this after being left undefeated, leading them to the district matches. Despite the success, like all teams, the girls faced difficulties. Some matches were harder than others, lasting two or more hours. However, the girls were able to work through the challenges due to their strong and unwavering teamwork. The girls worked hard everyday to perfect their techniques and keep their competitive spark lit.

While the team remained focused on their goals, they were still able to make memories during practices and matches, making the 2026 season the most memorable one yet. Anisa Mohyuddin ‘27 says “My favorite memory from this year’s tennis season was definitely our senior night! The team did such a great job putting it together and we had lots of fun celebrating each other. I’m going to miss the team so much and all the memories we’ve made!” This year, the tennis team had a total of six seniors, and it’s safe to say that the team will not be the same without them next year. The team expressed their appreciation of their seniors by giving them personalized gifts on their senior night, creating a special memory for the team to share.

Despite all the wins throughout the season, the performances of the two doubles teams at the semi-finals became the highlight. The results from the match indicated the hard work the girls had put into the season and it gave the team a memorable achievement to celebrate. The two doubles pairings, Kathleen Minella with Katie Zhang and Cece Pons with Elizabeth Weaver, worked with such dedication to their sport, making them most deserving of their success. Kathleen Minella ‘28 says “The win felt like a redemption from last season since my partner and I didn’t make it that far last year. It also felt like a great accomplishment since we had such a hard match before the semis the day before.” Kate and Katie ended in third place, receiving individual bronze medals, and Cece and Lizzy ended in second place, receiving individual silver medals. Combined, they successfully won second place as a team in the semi finals.

With the fall season at a close, the girls tennis team is now able to look back on a strong year of competition and accomplishments. Congratulations to Wyoming Seminary’s girls’ tennis team, and we look forward to seeing your success in the next year!




What is the Best Halloween Candy?

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By Luna Steinberger ’29

With Fall in full swing, there is one question that absolutely plagues the masses every year: what is the best Halloween candy? Whether it be it Twix, Kit-Kats, Sour Patch Kids, or simply Hershey’s chocolate bars, we all hope for something specific on Halloween night. Now, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It would be unfair if I wrote this article for the sole purpose of telling the world which candy is my favorite, so I decided to poll the SEM community. The results were incredibly varied, so there was no way to discern one definitive favorite candy. Despite this, one rivalry seemed to stand out among our community: sweet vs. sour.

As big as this rivalry is, its importance is often forgotten. Sweet and sour truly are the two symbols of candy, and it would seem SEM’s students agree with this. For example, Finnley Brennan ‘30 says, “. . . you just can’t go wrong with pure milk chocolate!” in reference to Hershey’s bars. Alternatively, Grace Wallace ‘30 says, “I love sour things, and these are just my go-to candies,” thinking of Sour Patch kids. It is a very hard decision to make, because both sides have completely valid opinions on the topic, but there must be some sort of consensus. 

After going through all of these great responses I’ve received, I can see an outlier on what candy SEM likes more. As a gummy lover, it surprises me to see that our school’s favorite candy is certainly sweet chocolate. Not only because of the sheer number of people who love chocolate candies, but also because their responses were filled to the brim with passion over their opinion. 

You may be wondering, “What’s the point of knowing everyone’s favorite Halloween candy?” That is a good question! When you think of Halloween, trick or treating is one of the first things that comes to mind for most people. Despite how fun it is, I think there’s one thing we often forget about. Why are we even eating all this candy? Usually by the end of the night, we’re too sick from sugar high to think about it, but I think it’s important to be conscious of which candy is your favorite. Lots of people root through their bags looking for their favorite candy and discard all that which they don’t like. I think that the discarded candy is just as important as the cherished candy, whether it be a pack of raisins or an Almond Joy, every piece of candy that is thrown away is someone’s favorite. So, this year when you are rooting through your leftovers (if you have any), think about giving the candy you don’t want to a friend. It may even become a new favorite!


A Look Backstage on Little Women

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By Chiara Volonakis ‘29

Each fall term, Wyoming Seminary’s players and crew put on a fantastic musical performance, complete with heartwrenching (or heartwarming) scenes, captivating songs, and crisp choreography, all surrounded by a beautiful set. This season, students, faculty, family, friends, and the ghosts hiding in the rafters of the KCCA had the pleasure of seeing Little Women: The Broadway Musical. To the innocent audience – who have not yet experienced the nightmare that is tech week or the struggles of remembering dozens of lines, lyrics, and scene changes – a school musical just seems like a fun way to support your classmates. But putting on a musical in less than two months is a lot harder than it seems like on stage. Let this article be a behind-the-scenes look into what that cast and crew of Little Women really had to go through.

When asked what the hardest part of performing in Little Women was, Sophia Roper ‘28 (who played Amy, one of the four March sisters) instantly replied “the harmonies in ‘Five Forever’ are really bad.” When the audience hears these songs for the first time, they often neglect the hours of rehearsal it took to make the notes sound so powerful. All this practice can be quite taxing, which was expressed by Jack Seltzer ‘30, Laurie’s actor. As the only freshman in the cast, Jack’s biggest struggle was “the amount of rehearsals… It’s a lot.” As the show dates grew closer, the amount of time spent practicing scenes grew as well, until the eventual five and a half hour long tech rehearsals. Throughout all this, performers are also trying to grow into their character’s role. Sadie Poepperling ‘27, who played multiple roles, said that she struggles with “trying to improve yourself without getting embarrassed.”

An actor might seem flawless, with memorized lines and on-point character notes, but Sadie made it clear that “you can’t just start good at everything.” It’s not just the cast that struggled to put on this performance. Ellen Sherry, Little Women’s costumer, spoke about how much of a struggle it was to research time-period accurate outfits for the actors, “Sherrys are sticklers for the details!” she exclaimed, and this is proven true by the stunning rental costumes the actors wore. Every piece of the set needed period accuracy as well in order for the performance to feel right. 

Now, audience, you may be wondering, why would anyone sign up for this torture? A fair question. Maybe it’s something you can only experience once you’ve put in the countless hours, maybe thespians are just crazy. But there’s something about that final moment, when all your hard work has finally paid off.